Liberia and the Face of God: A Call for Soulful Revival

Introduction
Liberia is still drenched in deep wounds of unforgiven hearts. Though the guns are silent since the end of the civil war, the reality of peace, personal security, and hope continue to elude Liberians as they foresee the challenges of rebuilding the country. We have witnessed various levels of false accusations, coup d' etats, assassinations, executions, and brutal civil war that claimed over 250,000 lives. As a result, the country and its people have experienced the reality of governmental instability, economic instability, relational instability, personal instability, and more. We as people have looked up to the seat of state government and international partners to draft solutions that will bring lasting stability in every sector of our homeland.

These troubling times in our country are only the manifest reality of what had been pre-plotted in the minds and hearts of individuals and groups for the sake of change and freedom from all forms of oppression. The quest for change is felt in both institutions of the civil magistrate (the government) and the ecclesiastical magistrate (the assembly of God's chosen people-the church). Nevertheless, Liberia has a long way to go in its efforts to grow and develop. As Liberia wobbles through ashes of the past, we should hope for a better future. Of course, we have seen so much that is wrong with our country, and we may all agree that change is necessary for the rebuilding of Liberia.

For the most part, we clamor for such change in the realm of politics. We cry against persistent political corruption in virtually every sector of governing authority, namely the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government. Many say the lack of progress is due to corrupt political power - mainly politicians--and Liberians blame politicians for all that goes wrong with the progress of the country. However, bandaging the externals without diagnosing the internal disease will bring no lasting healing of our homeland. What about spiritual change that can eventually lead to constructive change? Genuine change begins with renewal of the human soul through the omnipotence of God's redemptive Spirit and the bold preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation for all who believe (Romans 1:16). Simply put, authentic change involves the way we think (intellect), the choices we make (will), and the way we feel (emotion). Therefore, the core problem of Liberia's lack in progress is not merely political corruption, it is our distance from God (Isaiah 59: 2).

Distancing from God
God is sovereign! His authority and His control supercede all human’s authority. In fact, no human government exists on earth without God's ultimate approval (Romans 13:1). Thus, any government and its people that veer from God's will and counsel are bound to gradually fall away from God's grace. We profess to love God and know Him, but we look to other things rather than Him. We, instead of God, turn to other things to bring fulfillment into our lives. As a result, our country is experiencing the consequences of God's wrath in an active and passive way. These things are happening because of our distance from God.

The ills of Liberia are not merely the result of corrupt politicians. We can trace our country's troubles directly to ineffective Christians. History teaches us that Christians have been in the majority at virtually every strata of societal governance since the founding of Liberia as an independent nation. Though we are born in sin, and shaped in iniquity, as dictated by our fallen human nature, the token of God's kingdom on earth that brings man closer to God is the church. The church is the Body of Christ, an assembly of believers who are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8; Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2: 4-5). Thus, church and its assembly of people should serve as the agent of spiritual "light" and "salt" to a darkened world of people (Matthew 5:16).

The Church in the Midst of Chaos
The tragedy is that the Liberian church has failed to advance the kingdom of God and His principles in the society. I mean it literally! The church is to be a positive influence for good. As our country goes through doldrums of economic starvation, political uncertainty, abject poverty, and Ebola pandemic, God is saying something to us and we are not hearing his voice. God is shaking our country. Why is it that our homeland has fallen into an abyss of abnormality? Political mismanagement, unrest at various levels, civil war, and the plague of Ebola are all indication that God is shaking our country. Why is it that some people involve themselves in traditional ritualistic killings? Why is it that we hate and envy one another? Why is it that greed is at its height in state governance?
Although the guns are silent, however, reality of war persists in the heart of many people. And this war of heart is the rejection of God's love, clash of prideful spirits, and failure to do what Christ Jesus commands us to do—love others as we love ourselves. Pride, arrogance, thievery, hatred, murders, and all forms of immoralities are the results of an unregenerated heart. If those who are occupying the echelon of power in government and the church profess to know and love God, and if they are not demonstrating the character of integrity, then how do we expect our country to tangibly progress?

In James chapter four the apostle asks, "what causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight..." The apostle portrays reality of a heart and mind that is not content, always fetching for more at the expense of violating the inalienable rights of others. All the unrest in our country today started within the human’s mind and heart. Jeremiah 17: 9 tells us that the heart is "deceitful" and desperately "wicked" and who can "know" it? Only God searches and knows the heart (Jeremiah 17:10). Moreover, Christ Jesus emphasizes the condition of the human heart. "Out of the heart," Jesus says, "proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:19). Due to the mindset and heart that is far from God, our country is not in good shape.

Folks, the heart of the matter is the heart of the matter. When a man's heart is consumed by true love for God, he will not be so inclined to hurt another person. But we are still experiencing the prevalence of hatred among ourselves and many of us are unwilling to forgive others. Let us not forget that we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people. So, the first step to forgive somebody else is to recognize our imperfection and also imperfection of the offender. Moreover, the present earth is not heaven; it is defiled by sin and sinners and is groaning in pain for future delivery (Romans 8:21-22). Injustice that comes in all forms, shapes, and magnitude will continually plague our lives until the Righteous Judge arrives to settle the score on Judgment Day (II Corinthians 5:10; John 16:33).

Since God has all the resources than us, we must not repay evil that others have done to us. God is our avenger! (Romans 12:19). We should forgive others so that God will also forgive us. But if we fail to forgive others, how then should we expect God to forgive our sins? (Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 7:37-48). The ability to forgive somebody else is our deep sense of love for God and how much others have forgiven us. The biblical command is to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength and then love our neighbor and even our enemies (Romans 13:8; Matthew 5:44). What it means is that we should live as portrait of a new life in accordance with the life and character that Christ Jesus embodies: the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The essence and value of divine love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control must be practical in the Christian life (Galatians 5:22-23).

Declare Liberia A Christian Nation? How Can It Be?
Many Liberian church leaders say with glee that some of their members occupy important roles of leadership in the Liberian government. Some church leaders have even encouraged some of these members to legislate Liberia into a Christian nation. How can this be? Followers of Jesus Christ do not need to find their identity in the name of a country. During his trial in Pontius Pilate's court, Jesus Christ said that his ruling kingdom is not physical but spiritual (John 18:36). And believers in Christ Jesus ought to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24).

The church, which is not merely a building, is the token of God's spiritual kingdom on earth that the "gates of hell" will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Indeed, history has shown that every empire that ever rose to power has fallen, but the church is still standing. Governments and every forms and shapes of authority will rise and fall, but the remnant of God remains. How can Liberia be declared a Christian nation when many professed Christians are not portraying personal integrity? God knows that we are imperfect beings saved by His grace, yet He expects integrity in every area of our lives. A Christian's love is measured by the depth of his love that works through faith to forgive others.

We must love as Christ loved; we must walk as Christ walked. Such love is not generated from one's own strength but from the Holy Spirit that indwells the believer. It is the perfect love that casts out fear and truly forgives others (I John 4:18).

Moreover, the Christian identity is demonstrated if we internally and externally portray the fruit of the Spirit, an epitome of the Christian character (Galatians 5:22, 23). In other words, we must imitate Christ's life and character in all we do. Unfortunately, our country is morally bankrupt despite the predominant presence of professed Christians in both the church and state government. God is shaking our country so we can draw near to him and put away our personal idols. When we glean from the Old Testament, God was Israel's problem Himself. He unleashed the locusts; the storms and gave them over to their enemies: the Hittites, Philistines and other enemies. Why? because Israel's national life swayed away from worshiping the true God to worshiping idols. In biblical times, people used to worship trees, beads, or rocks as something concrete to give them sense of peace, personal security, as well as material possessions.

Negative Impact of Materialism
In our modern time today, idols are materialism in the form of money, possessions, and the time we spend doing other things that are not pleasing to God (Matthew 6:24). Many of us worship our cars, houses, jewelry, bank account, clothes, careers, and more. We tend to pay more attention to our personal belongings than the ultimate source that provides everything--God. Unfortunately, the young people in our society today are coached into careers geared toward working for state government as the easiest and quickest way to get rich. Hence, the focus of attention is not God who gives knowledge and wisdom and wealth but the "self" and materialism (Proverb 3:5-7; ITimothy 6:10). And when God is your problem, only God is your solution. The impetus behind the problems or crises occurring in Liberia today is spiritual, even though the symptoms are real in themselves as the physical, social, financial and more. They are merely the fruit of what has long been implanted in the hearts and minds of some people. However, God will not allow the ungodly behavior of the few to forever determine the destiny of our country.

A Revival Necessary in the Church
Liberia will never be saved unless the church revives itself in cadence with God's kingdom agenda for our homeland. No lasting solutions until believers (that is the church- the Body of Christ) appropriately return to God to hear His voice. True believers in God must humbly fast and pray until they get on the same page together. They must seek His face. The Executive Mansion is not where we must find the first and foremost solution to our nation's problems.

God's house is where we must first and foremost turn our attention for solutions. God is in charge and His believers have priority access to Him through the means of grace: prayer, Bible study, worship, and selfless service to others. Now is the time to invoke those solutions by calling on spiritual leaders and believers to initiate a national sacred assembly. Now is the time to clearly comprehend that God works to restore our nation until he first restores His church. The Body of Christ (the church) must earnestly seek Him, and we must do it (Hebrew 11:6). Folks, our problem is not the Executive Mansion. I believe that our problem is the church house.

If God could ever get us straight in His house, He will overflow into our communities and our nation, bringing life where there was once only the stench of death. We need the flow of God's healing power and influence to flow down the aisles of our churches. We have been so numbed by the rituals of religiosity that we are focusing less on the substance of our calling and faith. What then is the goal of the church? The church's goal is to advance and enrich God's kingdom on earth by positively affecting its members. As a result of such kingdom-minded goal, members will then affect the culture in which they live. It is the duty of the church to make its members know, experience, and trust God's Spirit. In hindsight, whenever biblical Israelites experienced crises and distance from God, the prophets would gather the people into an assembly.

God is the FIXER-IN-CHIEF
The Israelites resolved their crises by hearing the voice of God, who disrupted their normalcy of life. God disciplined them by sending locust, drought, and allowed their enemies to torment them. To hear the voice of God, the prophets needed a collective gathering of the people to call on his name. In biblical times, assembly of people was the means by which God used for national revival. We see major occurrences in the Old Testament concerning national revival, sacred assembly, time of prayer or fasting which preceded the revival.

Some of those events include the Sabbath-Leviticus 23:3; the Feast of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread-Leviticus 24:4-8; Feast of Weeks-Numbers 23:26-28; Feast of the Trumpets-Leviticus 23:23-25; Day of Atonement-Leviticus 23:26-32; and the Feast of Booths-1st and 8th day-Leviticus 23:33-36). Such revival continued in the New Testament.

These enlisted forms of worship occurred during the New Testament period as well. The church itself was birth out of a multi-day prayer meeting that cumulated into the Day of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks. This period is the concept of sacred gathering, a collective solemn assembly. And what was the purpose of the sacred assembly? It was done for purpose of renewing their covenantal relationship with God and to repent (that's turning away from sin and turning back to God). This, in turn, ushered in the rhythm of revival, resulting in the return of God’s manifest presence among his own, and their land. "Now, therefore, says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness." (Joel 22:12-13).

"Rend your heart" only works if it is internally driven and not merely externally enacted. The strategy for a long-term, effective national reform in Liberia must be to go along with what God has set out in His agenda for the church that must flow through every area of our lives, causing us to live all of life under God. My friends, God is asking us to take our nation's mess to him. Some of us are standing around looking at the plight of our nation and shaking our heads, asking "when is God going to do something?" Some of us are waiting on God to act. Why can't we see the things that are happening to our nation? Can't we see how God is shaking his head as He waits on us?

God has already provided His blueprint (His Word) as the necessary steps for what we need to do to get our nation back on track. Now is the time! With all of the decays and destructions that we face on so many levels in our country, it is now the time to come together and seek God collectively; time to call for a solemn assembly. Second Chronicles chapter 15 tells us that Israel's wayward national life occurred due to the absence of the true God. Due to the wrong view of God, that nation no longer followed the agenda of God. When the people of a nation fail to adjust to God’s way, the true God does not adjust to them. Apostle James says that if we draw near to God, then He will draw near to us (James 4:8). But we cannot draw near to God if we do not bend our heart toward him before we bend our knee in devotional prayer. If we assemble as formality without truly humbling our hearts before God and seeking Him first, we will have wasted our time.

A sacred assembly involves getting our hearts to beat in cadence with God's own, returning to Him so that He can return his favor by covering and protecting us. When God says return to him with all our hearts, God is saying to return to him as our fundamental source. He must be the center of our lives, homes, churches, communities, and nation. He must flow through all that we do. Many of us cursorily worship God by offering a nice little prayer before public meetings while simultaneously leaving God’s perspective out of the details. Not that the Israelites lacked Rabbis (or teaching priests); but they had stopped teaching the truth. Worship had degenerated into an ungodly lifestyle. The church (assembly) of the Israelites no longer became the center of life and conscience in the culture, calling people to take God seriously. In short, Israel was suffering from an absence of spiritual leaders who should honor the authority of Scripture.

Today's Reality of the Christian Community in Liberia
Too often today, we find the same thing in Liberia. Too many pastors preach to please, for they seem to fear backlash or the loss of church membership. At a recent function in Elk Grove, California, a pastor in the area alleges that pastors in Liberia today are more corrupt than politicians and, he added, they feed on other well-financed international churches to promote their personal welfare. That is a blanket and bleak indictment of the entire Liberian clergy. I do not believe that "all" pastors are corrupt, for there are some Liberian pastors who serve the Lord's flock with integrity. Nonetheless, I encourage the church to restore Christology, a Christ-centered message.

It is a fact that many preachers today spend time of preaching away from a Christ-centered message to exalting themselves. And they do so by sprinkling a little Jesus in their sermons whereas the Apostle Paul encourages us to preach the "full counsel of the gospel." (Acts 20:27). Jesus Christ is the content of the gospel (Mark 1:1). The issue is whether the message is true, not whether it is popular. An American pastor once put it this way, "politicians need to be popular. Preachers need to tell the truth." When the culture fails to define absolute truth based on God’s law, the nation is bound to wobble and fail. The Israelites had a false view of the true God so they engaged in idolatry. When a culture is ingrained with twisted view of God, then God begins to remove the restraint of His law and evil grows unstoppable.

What we are witnessing in Liberia today is the reality that God is removing more of His restraints. Once God is marginalized in a culture, then the righteous standard for a society is gone and God becomes one's fiercest enemy and nightmare, as we experience the natural consequences of distancing ourselves from Him . That's what happened in biblical Israel and that's what happening on a number of levels today in our beloved homeland. Yes, indeed, the rule of God is missing and chaos replaces community. The bottom line is that we cannot have order and structure in society without God. The more we sideline God, the worst things will become. Liberia is not in short supply of Bible schools and seminaries nor is it short of Christian leaders.

What is holding us back from fostering the kingdom of God’s agenda in public life is that we have left our first love-God, so did the loveless church of Ephesus (Revelation 2:4). Moreover, we fall short to measure our heart by our money and time. How much do we really give back in tithe to God? God still has more in his rich treasure to impact our country, but why would He want to give to His people who are only stealing from Him? In the Book of Malachi chapter three, God calls it "thievery." Yet, many of us have bigger houses, newer cars, newer clothes, but the message of God’s Word to our country in need continues to be truncated in its reach.

All Must Come To God
Folks, God is saying something to us as a nation. Due to the fact that we are not listening to God, He is shaking things up to get our attention. Can't we see how our country has gone through deadly coup d'etats, civil war, displacement of human capital, and an insidious outbreak of the Ebola disease? All our elected presidents are deceased, except for one who is bedraggled in prison for life while the other is now president. Countless lives have been lost as a result of raging fight over resources and political advantage. God is shaking things up in our country so that we can come to our senses by turning to Him wholeheartedly.

When the Israelites felt the weight of oppression at the hands of their enemies due to their distance from God, they cried out and Prophet Samuel provided the roadmap as a formula for freedom, victory, and stability. And the formula can be summarized in one word: ALL. "Return to the Lord with all your heart," is what the people of Israel needed to do in order to experience God’s favor of stability. God demands all our hearts, all of us. We must live with the ALL mentality. The Israelites had God and something else: God and their own wise ideas.

Sounds like today's Liberia? We think that we can solve our country's problem without God. As a result, our nation is suffering underneath the atmospheric chaos of distance from God. The question remains: do we look to God’s precepts and principles as our guiding force or do we seek the world's way of resolving personal problems and then just sprinkle little Jesus on top? My friends, God and something else doesn't work. The only workable strategy to get our nation on track is to listen and do what God is asking of us--He wants ALL our heart devoted to Him so that we can make a difference.

About the Author: Dr. Alex Redd is a theologian and teacher. Presently a lecturer in systematic theology and apologetics at Christian Bible Academy in California, he received a Doctor of Theology (Th.D) degree from the Christian Bible College and Seminary in Missouri and Master of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Counseling, Political Science, and Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Redd currently studies pastoral counseling and ethical leadership at Liberty University in Virginia. He formerly served as school counselor at school districts in the states of Nevada and California. A founding member of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) in 1998, he once worked as producer and host of "Sunrise", a news magazine program at DC101FM in Monrovia in 1996.
In late December 1997, the journalist sufferred the indignity of kidnap and torture at the hands of some state security elements of the erstwhile Taylor government for his investigation into the murder of Samuel Dokie and family in Bong County.

Thereafter he was jailed, charged with treason, and report of false information. State prosecutors could not substantiate these charges. The treason charges were subsequently dropped and a bail was granted following legal intervention by Attorneys Samuel Kofi Woods and Tiawon Gongloe. In early 1998, he left Liberia to resettle in the US for fear of losing his life. He can be reached at: alredd23@gmail.com

Mr. Redd, your sermon that our national problem is the result of the people not being Godly, or turning to Jesus, is both an intellectual and religious heresy which has no basis in knowlege, truth nor reason!

My friend, the very nation (USA) from which you write; are they spiritually great or Godly resulting into the prosperity of their nation and peoples? HELL NO! The are prosperous because the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE. PERIOD!

Other countries enjoying progress, are they that Godly as you claim your nation is not?

God has given man his intellect, sensibilities, will, and conscience, to enable him improve his/her life whether a nation or an individual!

My friend, it is you with your chronic limitations "bandaging the externals without diagnosing the internal"!

Instead of you so called clerics SPEAK OUT against THIS BUTCHER OF MONROVIA - ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, whose incompetence, selfisheness, greed for power and money, have resulted into the mess the nation finds itself today, you have the termerity to SHIFT BALME ON THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THE VICTIMS!

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Friday, September 18, 2009

BNA Breaking News: Former LCANC Sec. General (Alex Redd) in Santa Rita Jail and charged with Lewd or lascivious Act with a Child under 14

BNA Breaking News:

Former LCANC Sec. General (Alex Redd) is in Santa Rita Jail and charged with Lewd or lascivious Act with a child under the age of 14 years. Mr. Redd resigned as Secretary Generel of LCANC less than three months ago.

Pastor Alex Redd,

So, according to the story above, in which you committed such an abomination, and committed such a sin, and crime,at least according to your belief, the little girl "distanced herself from God" and so that gave you A PAEDOPHILE the right to commit such a wicked act against her.? Or better still, when you were kidnapped and jailed by the government in 1997, was it because you "distanced yourself from God"?

Mr. Pastor, you lazy and hypocritical article attempting to blame the victim and exonerate he perpetrator reminds us of another Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Dolo - who is advocating for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf a phantom designed to look like n NGO THINK TANK.

Dolo fails to know that the Liberian people are aware that that thing he calls independentthink tank is simply a strategy for the authoritarian Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to mask her diktas as flourishing civil society. NO WONDER BOTH OF YOU ARE SAYING THE SAME LIES.

Journalist Alex Redd Behind Bars Under $750 Bond

---Accused of "sleeping" with own 14-year-old daughter

Coke County, IL, 9/21/09 (SIS) - A Liberian journalist, Mr. Alex Redd, has been arrested, charged, and jailed here for allegedly having sex with his own 14-year-old daughter (name withheld).

Friends and family sources here told the Sloh Information Service today that law enforcement agents nabbed Redd recently while attempting to abscond the country to Canada and, then, to Liberia - his native land. He is being held under a $750,000 bond.

Accused child molester Alex Lagia Redd

Mr. Redd became the focus of international attention in late 1997 when he alleged he was kidnapped and tortured by then Liberian President Charles Taylor's security forces for attempting to investigate and report on the murder of former rebel leader Samuel Saye Dokie, his wife, and two family members. Upon his release, Redd was arrested and tried for inciting the public against the Taylor government. He fled to the United States in January of 1998 after being released on bail.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office, the second largest Sheriff's Department in the United States, employing more than 6,800 officers, deputies and civilians who perform a number of diverse tasks within the criminal justice system, did not return our calls for permission to interview Mr. Redd.

Kou Gonteeat 03:38AM, 2016/02/15.

Dear Kandajaba and Kou:

I am not a politician nor am I surrogate for any governmental source. I write, teach, and preach the gospel of peace in accordance with the Word of God (the Bible). In other words, my writing is theological in nature with the aim to graciously and spiritually build up others. I am a sinner saved by God's grace like everybody else who believe in the redemptive power of God. Since the Inquirer newspaper and The Perspective published this article, I have received many commendations from both public and private entities and individuals regarding my main point of this article. Some of them that misconstrued the main theme of this article, I graciously responded by explaining what I meant. Hence, I ask that you allow me to do the same here.

The article above is not meant to disdain anybody; rather, it is meant to call for soul searching as we find solutions to heal our beloved country. I have seen so much that is wrong with our country and it behooves me to theologically contribute based on understanding of my calling, election, and faith in Christ Jesus who is the glorious image of God the Father and of the Holy Spirit.

I understand your frustration concerning everything that is wrong with our homeland, Liberia. I share similar frustration and wrote the article above to accomplish three things: To exhort or encourage the church and its mission, its leaders, as well as professed followers of Jesus Christ (Christians) to do soul searching. That is the reason why I called for revival of our soul or to renew the way we think and do things. I asked several rhetorical questions concerning the increase in murder, thievery, greed, hatred, corruption, and everything else that is going on in our country.

These things, accordingly, are the outward reality of what certain individuals or groups have implanted in their mind or heart to do. Why? because their heart or mindset is not in consonance with God's rule of life (commandments). Who are these individuals or groups that are hell-bent on destroying our country? The biblical answer is clear: it is those who distance themselves from God's will and counsel and lean on their own knowledge and wisdom to govern others. And this is happening in both state government and the church.

Ironically, we have seen that majority of our leaders profess to be followers of Christ (Christians). Are they effective Christians and honest political leaders, especially when ritualistic killings or politically-motivated killings as well as corruption and insecurity continue to elude the Liberian people? No!

So then, what is wrong with the picture? Are they participants in state governmental affairs or the church? Yes! If so, how then will our country move forward when they do not repent to the Sovereign God and have a change of heart to truly serve the people? I believe it is not the power, authority, and prestige of the Executive Mansion, Legislature, and Judiciary.

What mattters is the heart or soul of the individual that occupies the office. Therefore, my plead in the article is to encourage fellow Christians to collectively come together to find solutions through the means of God's grace. As you are aware, we have seen the magnitude of violence against one another with the aim to bring change. For example, the Rice Riot of 1979, the Coup of 1980, the Nimba Raid, the Civil War coupled with politically-motivated killings, just to name a few. We have seen the "Strongman" persona displayed on national platform and no genuine change has emerged. Are we still clamoring for change in the face of the present political uncertainty or climate? Yes!

Have we gone beyond these hurtful events? Has Liberia tangibly progress among the commity of nations? Why? My logical but biblical conclusion is that we should take our nation's mess to God. He is sovereign with control and authority to change the "wicked heart" of the perpetrators. And in the midst of the chaos, the church must responsibly play its role as God's spiritual earthly kingdom to heal the division of deep wounds.

God is benevolent. He makes the "rain" and "sun" to shine on both the wicked and the righteous, according to Scripture. What this means is that God is always good to sinners, but God's patience and goodness should convince sinners to repent of their sins. God does not compromise his righteous justice to allow wickedness to go on forever. He judges both the wicked and the righteous in his time and place, according to the Scriptures. So, you may ask, why is it that other godless nations are progressing but not our homeland? The Prohets Jeremiah and Habbakuk asked God similar question and found out that God allowed things to happen based on his eternal purpose and plan that we might not know.

Let us not forget that tangible "progress" is not always the index to measure one's worth in this life. What matters is our spiritual relationship with the one and true God, for he is our fundamental source. Moreover, the Scripture says that this present world is not our home for there will come a time when everything will change into godly perfection for those who worship the Lord in spirit and truth.

So, I encourage both of you to take courage and pray to God for the deliverance of our homeland. We must not allow our anger and frustration to overcome our rationality which should fall in line with God's perspective. The book of Proverbs says that the beginning of knowledge and wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

Indeed, God has endowed us with blessing of talents, skills, and abilities to make our livelihood rejoiceful. Nevertheless, we all fall short in some measure to responsibly dispense our knowledge and wisdom to build up others, our communities, and our nation. We can muster the cause to rebuild our nation if we learn to let-go our hurtful past and work together for the common good.

I believe the USA is not only powerful because of its milittary capability or economic expansion; it is powerful because of the American spirit and ideals of patriotism that form its basis on Judeo-Christian values and principles. I agree morality is on its collision course, yet the country is viable in its fundamental principle due to its remnant (the few that are in cadence with God's will and counsel).

My assertion is in accordance with how God dealt with biblical Israel national life in the days of their distance from God. The remnant stood the test of time and held God's promise of restoration for the nation. The same is happening in our homeland. I am optimistic that our homeland will be restored if true worshippers of God (the remnant) continually commune with God.

Finally, I want to make it clear that the BNA and Sloh news were misinformed about those allegations against me. In fact, J. Nagbe Sloh and BNA whose chart room quotations mentioned as sources in 2009 are my Facebook friends. They were misinformed. I have three adult sons (27, 25, 20) and one 9 year old daughter; they never suffer from any form of such allegation nor did I engage in such act.

I presently work professionally as a theologian and teacher to both the young and old. In addition, I enjoy the confidence of my professional colleagues, friends, elders, church, and community.

What matters here is my responsibility to positively contribute to the rebuilding of our homeland.

I will theologically continue to do so without getting into personal attacks or diatribe. May our reaction to finding lasting solutions to our nation's problem be seasoned with grace. Shalom!

Alex Reddat 09:03PM, 2016/02/15.

Pastor Alex Redd,

I asked you a simple question. And I need an anwer from you! Whether you are a politician or a surrogate of politicians, I care less! If you were not the phony you have proven to be, you would have demonstrated yourself in your article as the Prophet Amos who was a simple farmer but took on a nation in which the powerful took advantage of the weak as is the case today in our nation. IE. Amos 2:8!!! Amos 5:24!!!!

I ask you again, Mr. Pastor: When you commited such sin, crime, abomination, and wickedness, against that little girl, was it because according to your judgement she "distanced herself from God"?

I ask you this simple question because according to your logic as embedded throughout your VERY LAZY AND HYPOCRITICAL CRAP, the victims are victimized because they "distanced themselves from God"!

Kou Gonteeat 04:00AM, 2016/02/16.

Thanks so much Dr. Alex Redd for this well-written article. It is spiritually touching, It is true that we must return to God with our whole heart and ask him for help in finding lasting solutions. I have called on my church members to continualy fast and pray for our leaders and nation.

We must truly seek God's face. Wickedness, envy, hatred, and corription are so rampant in our country. I think if we are to develop and grow individually and as a nation, we must now learn to move ahead by finding answers and not putting each other down.

The Bible says we must forgive and reconcile, but some are keeping grudges and bitterness which impel them to seek revenge. As a result, we do not trust each other and we cannot make any progress.

Everybody looking for what they will get from government coffer. So they become selfish and mean spirited, thinking they can eliminate their political opponents as a way to carry on their devious act.

That is why I ultimately put my trust in God. Our government has failed us, but we must not give-up on our leaders. Let us pray for them so that God can give them wisdom to be better leaders.

I read your whole article and do not see anything you said that blame victims. I think you want the church to wake-up and do its part. It is true that people who commit wickedness against others are not obeying the way God wants us to live. They do so because they are not drawing closer to the Holy God.

I believe that if we stop pointing finger or blaming others and come together to find answers to our nation's problem, then we will truly be showing true love for our country.

I encourage you, Dr. Redd, to continually teach us to think biblically and to do the things that God wants us to do so that we can live together in peace. Keep up the good work!

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